a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container for therapeutic use, and more specifically to a container for therapeutic use, which contains a base solution and a medicament, which is susceptible to a change in property or color by moisture, oxygen and/or the like, in different compartments for stable storage over an extended time. Especially, the present invention is concerned with a container for therapeutic use, which allows a desiccant to retain its dehumidifying function over a long time so that the interior of a compartment with a medicament placed therein can be fully maintained under dry conditions.
b) Description of the Related Art
Containers for therapeutic use, each of which generally has a structure such that two or more medicinal ingredients are separately held during storage and upon use, are aseptically combined together for administration, have already been proposed (JP kokai 63-19149, JP kokai 1-240469 and JP kokai 2-4671). These containers are intravenous hyperalimentation (IVH) containers. Mutually-opposing walls of a bag-portion of each container are thermally and peelably welded and sealed together in a lateral direction to divide the interior of the container into two compartments. A sugar solution is stored in one of the compartments, while an amino acid solution is stored in the other compartment. As the sugar solution and the amino acid solution are kept separated from each other during storage in such an infusion fluid container, the sugar and the amino acid as medicinal ingredients are prevented from reacting with each other and undergoing changes in properties in the course of autoclave sterilization treatment or during storage. Upon use, peeling of the peelable seal, which divides the above-mentioned two compartments from each other, by an operation from the outside makes it possible to aseptically combine the respective medicinal ingredients together with ease.
Other dual-compartment containers have also been proposed, in each of which a lyophilized product such as an antibiotic or a protein preparation is held in one of the compartments and a dissolving solution for the protein preparation is held in the other compartment (JP kokai 4-364850, JP kokai 4-364851, JP kokai 6-14975). Since a lyophilized product such as an antibiotic is apt to be easily deteriorated by moisture or oxygen, only the accommodative compartment for the dry medicament is covered by a covering material having moisture or gas barrier properties.
Incidentally, an attempt for the provision of a covering material equipped with complete barrier property results in one carrying thereon a deposited layer or thin film layer of aluminum. As such a covering material permits practically no permeation of external moisture or oxygen, the covering material can exhibit its function over an extended time without requiring a desiccant or deoxidizer in a large amount.
However, such a covering material lacks transparency. For a container for therapeutic use, it is required before use to permit confirming that each medicinal ingredient contained therein is free of abnormality. Accordingly the covering material is also required to have transparency. When a barrier film having transparency and resistance to moisture or gas permeation is used in a container for therapeutic use, a desiccant or deoxidizer inside the container is desired to retain its function for 3 years or longer.
A lyophilized product is aseptically transferred to and filled in an accommodative compartment of a container for therapeutic use after conducting lyophilization in a separate vessel. This filling operation may be cumbersome.